How far back in time can we go?

[funkychinaman]

Originally Posted by Mazryonh

Firearms underwent a loooonngg phase of being big, unwieldy, and unreliable as man-portable weapons before they became more user-friendly. I noticed we have pages for the Jezail musket and wheellock/matchlock guns. Would even earlier "man-portable cannons" (AKA "handgonnes") be permissible for this wiki or not?

One such piece of media featuring these primitive firearms (aside from the infamous "bamboo and blackpowder cannon" from the original Star Trek series episode titled "Arena") is the video game War of the Roses, a third-person medieval combat game focussing on the titular conflict. You can watch a video of them in action.

The question is, if I were to make a page about this game, would the handgonnes (and similar "hand cannons") count? I'm sure there are plenty of historical dramas (most likely China-focussed) that might be included if the gates were opened on that.

We don't allow improvised firearms, so Kirk's cannon from "Arena" is out.

I think the earliest weapon we have is the matchlock musket, and I'm okay with that. As with flintlocks and wheellocks, since all we're doing is IDing the type, it's a bit pointless.